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There was a collective national intake of breath, as people opened their curtains this morning to see snow-covered fields, and feared a return visit from the beast from the east.
But the latest forecast from Met Éireann shows that the worst of the snow seems to have passed, though temperatures are still expected to be cold and reach -3°C tonight.
Our latest radar shows today's snow showers contracting to the south & east and dying out.
Further light showers of rain, sleet & snow this evening mainly over parts of Leinster & Munster, elsewhere a good deal of dry weather.
Cold frosty & icy tonight with lying snow. 0 to -3°C pic.twitter.com/bbBOIDmPEU— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) March 18, 2018
However, farmers still had to cope with a day of cold, wet weather and, after Storm Emma, many were feeling frustrated that they had been hit by a second cold spell.
The east of the country seems to have been the hardest hit, and Patrick Dunne sent on some of his pictures to the Irish Farmers Journal Snapchat.
A number of people had to deal with lambing and calving and Mag Lawlor sent on a picture of a lamb that had to be brought in from the cold in Co Carlow.
Frozen pipes and trying to get water to animals remained a huge issue on many farms. A farmer in Kilkenny had to let his cattle down to a local river to access water.
It’s easy to get stuck on a downer when spring seems so far away, everything can be turned into a negative.
— James Robinson (@JRfromStrickley) March 18, 2018
But seasons come & go and life is full of ups & downs and when we do reach the top of the hill, we’ve got to make sure we pause for a while to appreciate it ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/oPrCOaOHdn
It can be a dark time for many farmers with the pressures of calving and lambing and a delayed spring. But, as James Robinson points out, coping with the seasons is part and parcel of farming and spring will come!
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